Finger-bar and guard-finger



(No Model.)

L. MILLER. FINGER BAR AND GUARD FINGER.

No. 449,802. Patented Apr. 7, 1891.

f mw

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LElVIS MILLER, OF AKRON, OHIO.

FINGER-BAR AND GUARD-FINGER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 449,802, dated April '7, 1891.

Application filed April 13, 1889.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LEWIS MILLER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Akron, county of Summit, and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Finger-Bars and Guard-Fingers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification.

My invention relates to a novel construction and arrangement of .the finger-bar and guard-fingers of the cutting apparatus for relieviiig the finger-bar from friction and wear from the knife-bar and knife-sections without giving increased elevation and height of cut to the knife, and will be understood from the following description and claims, reference being had to the accompanying d rawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation, and Fig. 2 a plan view, of one of my improved guard-fingers. Fig. 3 is a plan View of a portion of a finger'bar and of a knife-bar, showing two of the fingers and a knife-cap plate; and Fig. 4 represents a vertical section through the finger-bar and knife-bar and showing a finger, knife-section, and knife-cap in side elevation.

The finger-bar (indicated at A) is made from a fiat bar of metal in the usual manner, except that it has a rabbet formed on its lower face at the forward part thereof, making said forward portion of the bar, against which the main portion of theshank of the guard-finger rests, thinner than the rest of the bar, and consequently depressing the body of the finger-bar resting on said shank to the extent of the depth of said rabbet, thereby bringing the upper face of the bar correspondingly nearer to the surface of the ground. The rear wall or shoulder of said rabbet (indicated at a) is made preferably inclining rearward to facilitate the passage of the bar over the ground.

The guard-finger (indicated at B) is provided with the usual open horizontal slot at c, in which the projecting points of the knifesections cl work, the walls of said slot diverging toward the rear open end thereof in the usual manner to facilitate the escape of obstructing matter that may be carried in by the knife-sections, and the lower wall of said Serial No. 307,171. (No model.)

slot has a ledger-plate or fixed steel cutter Q secured to it in the usual manner. The lower wall of the knife-slot in the guard-finger terminates at the rear edges of laterally-projecting wings or guards B, one on each side of the finger and of sufficient length to abut at their ends against the ends of the opposing guards on the adjacent fingers, and at this point an offset or shoulder b is formed in line with the rear faces of the guards B, and which with said guards forms a continuous wall in front of the knife-bar D. The depression in the finger at Z) in rear of the shoulder 1) forms the seat on which the knife-bar D rests and moves, and instead of being made fiat and affording a frictional bearing of the entire width of the finger for said knife-bar is rounded or beveled each way from its longitudinal center to its sides in such' manner as to afford a narrow bearing or support for said bar at said center only, thereby reducing the frictional surface in contact with said bar. This depression I) at its center or highest point is in or slightly above the plane of the upper face of the finger-bar and terminates at its rear end at a second shoulder or offset 12 preferably inclined at an angle of forty-five degrees, more or less, said shoulder terminating at a lower'depression b in the face of the guard-finger, forming a seat for the forward rabbeted portion of the lower face of the bar A. This second depression termislot therein, the first b in the plane of or slightly above the upper surface of the finger-bar and on which the knife-bar moves, a second I) on which the rabbeted portion of the bar A rests, and a third I) at the heel end of the shank extending under the thicker portion of the bar and serving to give to the shank sufficient bearing-surface on the bar to form a firm and rigid connection therewith and to hold said bar out of frictional contact with the ground. The finger-bar and finger are perforated at the shoulders a and D to receive a single belt a through each guard-finger, which serves in connection with said shoulders to secure the finger firmly and rigidly to the bar.

E represents acap-plate, made, preferably, of sutiicient width in its lower portion E to receive at each side or end which is perforated for the purpose one of the bolts 6, by means of which adjoining fingers are secured to the finger-bar, and as many of these capplates may be used in the length of the finger-bar as are required to properly secure and retain the knife-bar D in place. The heel ends of the knife-sections (l overhang or project beyond the rear face of the knife-bar D and overlie and rest upon the upper face of the lower portions E of the cap-plates, and between which and the cap E a slot 6' is formed in which the projecting heel ends of the knife-sections move. The forward ends of the caps E project over the knife-sections and knifebar D and serve to hold the latter to its seat I) on the guard-fingersbetween the shoulders b and the forward edges of the lower portions of the cap-plates E.

By the construction of the finger-bar and guard-fingers and the arrangement of the offsets and depressions in the upper face of the latter, as described, it will be seen that the upper face of finger-bar isdepressed to the level of or slightly below the lower face of the knifebar,and that the latter is removed from contact with the finger-bar an d rests only in frictional contact with the guard-fingers and the forward edge of the lower portions of the capplates; also, that the fingers have an extended and shouldered surface in contact with the finger-bar for giving them a firm and rigid connection therewith, and that the frictional surface of the guard-fingers in contact with the knife-bar is reduced to a minimum consistent with the proper retention and protection of said knife-bar.

Having now described my invention, I claim as new- 1. The finger-bar having the rabbeted lower face, in combination witha slotted guard-finger having the upper face of its shank shouldered to match and project beyond the rabbeted portion of the bar and provided with the knife-bar seat in rear of and below the knit-slot in said finger and forward of and raised to the plane of the upper face of i said finger-bar, and a slotted cap-plate in rear of said knife-bar seat for taking the wear of the rear face of the knife-bar and projecting heel ends of the knives, substantially as de scribed.

2. The combination, with a finger-bar having the rabbeted lower face, of a slotted guard -finger having a shouldered shank matching and extending beyond the rabbet in said face, a seat for the knife-bar in front of and raised to the plane of the upper face of said finger-bar, whereby the knife-bar is raised above and removed from frictional contact with the finger-bar, a shoulder on said finger in front of said knife-bar seat and below the plane of the knife-slot, and a slotted cap-plate in rear of said seat for taking the wear of the knife-bar and knife-heels, substantially as described.

3. Aslotted guard-finger having an offset or shoulder at the heel end of the knife-slot and a depressed knife-bar seat in rear of said shoulder, the shank of which finger is provided in rear of said. knifebar seat with a finger-bar seat depressed below the plane of the knife-bar seat and having an offset or shoulder to match and extend beyond a rabbet in the lower face of said finger-bar, all substantially as described, whereby said finger is adapted to uphold and guide the knifebar in the plane of or above the upper face of the finger-bar, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 11th day of April, A. D. 1889.

LEWIS MILLER.

\Vitnesses:

O. L. SADLER, \V. K. l\[EANs. 

